Press Releases
Vodafone and IPS to notify blood donors via SMS
Lisbon, 4 December 2007 The Vodafone Portugal Foundation and the Portuguese Blood Transfusion Service (IPS) have signed a co-operation agreement to encourage blood donations nationally via SMS.
Under the terms of the agreement, blood donors registered in the database of the Portuguese Blood Transfusion Service will be notified of the arrival of a blood collection team in their neighbourhood or in the place where they usually give blood by text message rather than the usual postcard.
This should result in a higher rate of successful notifications and, consequently, a higher number of blood donations.
Donors receptiveness to this communication channel and its operational aspects have been tested at the Oporto Regional Blood Bank. The results obtained support the nationwide extension of this form of communication between the Portuguese Blood Transfusion Service and registered donors.
The use of SMS could increase the value of the Blood Transfusion Services database because it could, for example, make it possible to notify donors of a particular blood group needed at a particular place within a certain space of time.
The support provided by the Vodafone Portugal Foundation covers all SMS calls between the Portuguese Blood Transfusion Service and donors, and the cost of the software application that supports the link between the database and any of the Portuguese mobile networks.